


So, friends?

by InLust



Series: The Civilian Department [2]
Category: Agent Carter (TV), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Love/Hate, Parks and Recreation Style, civilian department, jemma being like ann perkins, skye being like april ludgate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 14:18:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5459525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InLust/pseuds/InLust
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jemma doesn’t understand why Skye hates her so much, but that doesn’t stop her from doing whatever she can to becoming Skye’s friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	So, friends?

**Author's Note:**

> You definitely don't have to watch Parks and Recreation to get this one for sure
> 
> A/N: I know this was supposed to be Cartinelli also but if you’ve ever read When did agents get audited? it’s my Parks and Recreation style AU for the Civilian Department. This is sort of a prequel because i kind of allude to skimmons relationship in that
> 
> A/N2: features Skye being rude af and hating Jemma and Jemma just wanting to be her friend; love hate its all the same

Jemma doesn’t know why Skye doesn’t like her. Or why Angie is so _affectionate_ towards the prickly girl.

Skye Johnson is the youngest agent in the Civilian Department. Jemma has seen her credentials. She knows what Skye is capable of. Not only was she the youngest recruit in her class to graduate early but she graduated with top marks. The only concern that Jemma had was Skye’s _inactivity_.

The Civilian Department wasn’t the best idea put forth by SHIELD. However, it did offer a lot of opportunities for the agents to lead a relatively _normal_ life. Not much travel outside of the midwest, great benefits, and weekends off like every other civilian.

Jemma could see how that gets a bit boring but that’s a part of life. She’s a bit grown up so she can fill her time with other interests.

To be honest, she and Angie had gotten over being field agents a year into it. What good was shooting bad guys and gathering intel for if they didn’t know _who_ they were helping?

Angie was great in that respect. She had a lot of enthusiasm for people. Probably out of all of SHIELD, she was the only one unconcerned with being a hero and more concerned with being _helpful_. It was the only reason why Jemma decided to join the Civilian Department with her in the first place.

_How could Angie recommend someone for early graduation for her to do absolutely nothing?_

Jemma purses her lips as she sits across the room from Skye, who is sighing deeply as she stares at her computer screen.

_How can someone stare at their screen for two hours without touching it?_

“Hey, what’re you working on Skye?” Jemma asks amicably from her desk.

Skye just glares in return and answers, “My plot to dominate mankind.”

Of course, she gets answers like that. _Always_.

What had she ever done to make Skye hate her?

**Dr. Jemma Simmons - Transmission log 0911-87**

_It has been a year since Skye has joined the Civilian Department. She is possible valuable asset and would not like to see her potential go to waste._

_Most importantly, I am going to do whatever I can to get her to like me._

_Watch out, Skye! You’re gonna have a new friend. It’s going to be me!_

**End of Transmission**

At first Jemma tries to start off with small talk.

How does she start talking with someone younger though?

Jemma sidles up in front of Skye’s desk as casually as she can. Skye glances up from the magazine she is reading and Jemma thinks that it is her chance.

“So...Skye, I need to update my iPod and I was wondering, where could I get good music?” Jemma holds her breath.

Skye glowers. “The internet.”

Jemma exhales. _That’s it?_ She goes back to her desk awkwardly.

After a few moments, Jemma awkwardly sits down and a light bulb goes off in her head. “Skye, where’d you get your hair done? It looks great!”

This time Skye looks up and deadpans, “It grew.”

Jemma scrunches up her nose at the useless response. She’ll think of something soon.

“...How is your sister doing?”

Skye sighs out as she turns a page, “She’s dead.”

Jemma gasps and looks back at her computer screen. _That was insensitive, Jemma!_ In the corner of her eyes, she sees Skye look up at her with a smirk. _Wait! That liar!_

She is about to say something when Angie walks in with Jarvin wearing her 1940s diner uniform.

“Jemma! My beautiful golden fruit tart, how is your day going?” she asks sweetly as she approaches her desk.

Jemma smiles brightly at her best friend and tucks her hair behind her ears. “You know, trying to save the world and all,” she says automatically. Even though, she’s been trying to make small talk with Skye for the past two hours.

She will get her small talk _damnit_!

“Awww,” Angie cooes as she places a nice hot coffee on her desk. “This is for you and your hard work. I am going to change out of this get up and then maybe we can talk about that case concerning Professor Zola at Indiana University?”

Jemma brightens. “Absolutely!” Maybe some time away will help Jemma think of a better strategy of getting Skye to talk to her.

\----------------------

A week later, Jemma starts getting busy with actual evidence against Professor Zola. Angie got her to play a prospective graduate student for biology at IU with a focus on genetic mutations. Turns out Professor Zola had a proclivity for human physical enhancements. Needless to say, Angie’s research was not fruitless.

It did keep Jemma a bit busy than usual, analyzing some samples she had swiped from Professor Zola’s office.

Suddenly, her door in the lab slams open to scare the living daylights out of her.

She jumps up from her microscope with a scream.

“Calm down, chicken little,” Skye orders coldly. She crosses her arm quickly, looking uncomfortable.

It’s then that Jemma realizes that Skye is never too far from her desk. Or the first floor for that matter.

“Is there something you needed, Skye?” Jemma tries not to sound excited at the prospect of Skye’s presence being more than small talk. She’d settle for that too.

She coughs. “As if I need anything from you.”

 _Well, that was short lived._ Jemma thinks about her project instead of letting Skye’s words sting. She turns to her microscope when Skye adds on.

“I do,” the young agent admits, almost begrudgingly.

Jemma looks at Skye with raised eyebrows and stares as Skye looks away from her with a blush. Jemma sucks in her lips to hide her smile but terribly fails. “So…,” she begins with all the smugness she can ooze without making Skye run off, “what do you need from me?”

“Angie wants me to go up to the fourth floor,” Skye says as an explanation. She doesn’t even want to say anymore but Jemma is eating this up. Getting Skye to talk to her was all she ever wanted. Skye lets out an exasperated sigh. “Look I hate the fourth floor, all I know is that there are people there. I hate people.”

“I gathered,” Jemma jabs at playfully as she removes her gloves. Skye frowns. “You do realize that there are _people_ on _every_ floor here right?”

Skye raises her nose in disgust. “Look, do you wanna help or not?” Skye snaps instead.

Jemma would instantly say yes but Skye is actually seeking her help. For what purpose, Jemma doesn’t know but she’d like to have the upper hand for once. “On one condition,” Jemma begins with a smirk.

Skye pouts and grumbles before saying, “ _Fine_.” Jemma smiles brightly with teeth and all that it makes Skye cringe, which makes Jemma smile even harder. “What is it?!”

“You have to be my _friend_...for a week,” Jemma feels more triumphant than ever.

Skye turns around quickly with her shoulder bunched up before Jemma can see a proper response. Regardless, it’s pretty priceless to make Skye uncomfortable.

“Come on, Jemma, you’re gonna talk to any weirdos up on the goddamn fourth floor, while I get this tech stuff done for Angie,” the young agent commands as she starts walking out of the lab.

**Dr. Jemma Simmons - Transmission log 0911-88**

_This is it. This is my moment. Agent Skye Johnson has approached me for help._

_Usually, Skye has the upper hand when it comes to dealing with me. However, she approached me. This is her weakness._

_I am going to take this weakness and use it against her! SO THAT SHE CAN BE NICE TO ME!_

_Whew. Wow. What a rush._

**End of Transmission**

The elevator is dead quiet. Jemma isn’t sure she should begin small talk because she isn’t sure why Skye doesn’t like it to begin with. She’s seen Skye talk to May and truth be told, May rarely speaks.

“Why don’t you like the fourth floor?” Jemma asks with genuine curiosity. She’s been up there before. It’s dark and gloomy.

Why they would stick the tech department on the fourth floor was beyond Jemma. It was clear they would’ve enjoyed the basement.

“There are weirdos up there,” Skye says quietly.  

“They’re all of our tech people, how come you didn’t join the tech department?”

The corner of Skye’s lip twitches and Jemma looks at her curiously. For a second, Jemma can see a cloud of thoughts brewing in Skye’s head. There’s almost something touching about the way she fondly thinks. Skye catches Jemma’s eyes studying her and crosses her arms once more, arms protectively around her.

“This isn’t sharing hour,” Skye declares defensively. There is a lack of hostility in her voice that makes Jemma smile. No hostility, but definitely shyness. “ _Don’t_ look at me like that.” Her eyebrows sharpen her expression and she keeps her eyes glued to the metal doors before them.

Jemma realizes then that Skye is cute when she is embarrassed. She says nothing either, turning her expression to the opening doors of the elevator.

When they step off the elevator, Jemma starts to wonder why Skye would want Jemma there on the fourth floor. Because she’s starting to feel like Skye wanted her to be the uncomfortable one.

Skye is walking through the halls towards the equipment room at the end of the hall.

Jemma knew that was the darkest corner of the fourth floor. So she’s heard. Maybe this was all a ruse for Skye to kill Jemma.

“So, what do you need for Angie?” Jemma asks to break the silence. And possibly check to see how much Skye wanted to kill her.

“Stuff,” Skye says with a shrug.

They take a turn for the room and Jemma holds her breath. _This is it, Skye could kill me and no one would ever know about it._

The wooden door with a frosted window marked Equipment stands before them ominously. Skye walks straight towards it and yanks it open. When she realizes that Jemma doesn’t actually follow her she turns around, “Are you coming or what?”

Jemma sees the smile on Skye’s face. If she backs down now, Skye would never let her live it down. Skye doesn’t know the field training she’s gotten. She’s got years of experience on this girl. After psyching herself up for the sake of friendship, she follows Skye confidently.

When they’re in the room, it’s a strange blue and grey all around. There are vague white lights that allow them to know where things are but nothing that actually heats the room. Jemma purses her lips with curiosity.

It actually looks pretty cool.

That is until a large shadow looms behind them.

Jemma feels an enormous presence behind them and instantly screams, reaching forward to latch onto Skye. “I swear to god!”

Skye turns her head to the woman that now has her arms wrapped around her shoulders. She cringes and freezes uncomfortably at the contact.

Jemma notices this but can’t let go because she doesn’t know who the hell is in that room with them.

“Get off of me,” Skye whines with disgust. “It’s just Mack.”

Jemma exhales with relief to know Skye knew the person that was there. She needs to go out in the field more often.

They both turn around to the enormous figure. Mack is like the size of Superman or something. He is dressed with an open plaid shirt and grey tank top underneath that expose his perfectly balanced pectoral muscle and six pack abs. Jemma appreciates the sight of a _well structured_ body.

“Hey, Skye,” he greets with a friendly smile. “What do you have on your order today?”

Skye jabs the paper at him rudely. He doesn’t seem to mind though, taking it before disappearing in the stacks.

Jemma looks over at Skye who has her eyes wandering all over the room. “You could stand being a little nicer to him,” she suggests.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Skye returns petulantly before going to one of the stacks with small metallic figures that look like 3D jigsaw puzzles. Jemma is about to make another suggestion but doesn’t. Skye picks up one that is shaped like a cube and inspects it with curiosity.

Jemma stares as Skye does this with a couple more of the shapes. She sees Skye’s eyes brighten as she touches the figures. It’s clear that Skye knows something about them that Jemma doesn’t, but it doesn’t bother Jemma. Skye looks genuinely happy around the equipment.

“What are those?” Jemma asks.

Skye doesn’t say right away. She does twist one of the bent figures at the pivot point and lets it open in her hands. There’s a low humming and blue light that comes from the pivot. “This…,” Skye says with wonder, “is a modified electromagnetic pulse modulator. It’s been upgraded in the last year to be accessed remotely. There are so many settings on this that you won’t ever have to worry about scrambling a huge range of frequencies.” She closes it. “Such a cool model. It’s sleek and simple.” Skye smiles brightly at it before setting it down.

Jemma doesn’t say anything just yet. Because something else has caught Skye’s attention.

“The new tablet!” Skye says with blatant excitement as she picks up the device that was sitting on a desk. She starts weighing it in her hand and inspecting the exterior with excitement.

Jemma stifles a laugh as Skye keeps caressing the device. “Should I get you two a room?” she jokes.

Skye suddenly realizes that Jemma is there and the excitement instantly goes away. Her expression darkens and she puts down the tablet quickly (with extreme care). “You’re supposed to be keeping me away from the _weirdos_ ,” Skye reminds.

Jemma is about to point out that there are no weirdos around when Mack appears with the items that Skye needs.

“Got everything you needed,” Mack says with the levity and kindness that mirrors Skye. “I even upgraded the Security Pro 5 on the camera, so you don’t complain about the quality of the feed.”

Skye nods in agreement. “That’s cool,” she says nonchalantly. Jemma tilts her head in curiosity. “Good job, skipper.” She takes the items from Mack carefully.

“Hey, the guys are coming to play Black Ops tonight, you should come, we miss you,” Mack informs with excitement.

Jemma really bites her tongue as she listens to this new found information. _Skye and video games? Skye hangs out with people?_

Skye actually blushes this time around. She shoots a look at Jemma.

Jemma awkwardly stares back for a moment. Right the weirdos. “She’s got plans, sorry mate,” Jemma says, hoping that was the right thing to say.

“Aww, it’s okay then another time,” Mack suggests hopefully.

Skye glares at her.

Jemma adds, “We should go, Skye! Got a lot of work with all of that.” She gives Mack an apologetic look and he just goes with it. He seems like a pretty understandable guy.

Skye starts moving towards the door with a short goodbye and Jemma follows her. Mack just smiles with a wave as they exit.

When they’re back on the elevator, Jemma realizes that Skye is pouting more childishly. It’s like she’s almost sad to go. It makes perfect sense though, Skye was a technology wiz in the academy. Apparently she hacked into the NSA within an hour and Wall Street within 30 minutes.

“Do you want to go back up?” Jemma teases playfully.

Skye turns red and snaps, “No.” There’s a pause. “Thanks for keeping me away from that _weirdo_.”

Jemma raises her eyebrows. “You mean that guy who wants to be your _friend_?”

“Ew.”

“You’re so curious.”

Skye rolls her eyes. “Don’t _analyze_ me.”

Jemma shrugs. “I’m not. I was just saying.”

“Well, don’t.”

The elevator dings at the first floor and Skye is about to get off when Jemma grabs onto the back of her shirt.

Now that Jemma did what Skye needed help with, she can capitalize on building a friendship with her.

“What?” Skye barks.

“Is that how you say goodbye to a _friend_?” Jemma is really milking this.

Before Skye realizes it, Jemma wraps her arms around Skye tightly. The equipment squished between them but Jemma can feel Skye’s warm body regardless. After all, they say it usually takes 30-45 seconds of hugging to develop emotional intimacy with another person. This was going to work, Jemma was sure of it, plus, Skye was extremely uncomfortable.

“Is this over yet?” Skye croaks after awhile.

Jemma pulls back. “Next time you get to choose what we do, friend.” She sends a wink to Skye as the elevator door shuts. She’s pretty sure that Skye was blushing.

Clearly, she’s never had a friend like Jemma.

**Dr. Jemma Simmons - Transmission log 0911-89**

_Having a conversation with Skye is clearly an issue. More or less, my strategies for friendship with Skye have all failed. So now I am going to capitalize on this friendship for a week and hug her into submission._

_Mm hmm. I think I definitely won this._

**End of Transmission**

Jemma feels good at the end of the day. After setting some of the samples for testing and digging further into Professor Zola’s projects, she’s managed to make some headway into what he could be secretly working on. On top of that, she felt the most success in being able to spend a blip of her time with Skye.

That girl was multifaceted and deeply layered. Although, she could come off as brash and rude, Jemma could see how certain things held a special place in her heart.

Jemma is packing up her bag for the night. The lab is empty as it usually is by the time Jemma leaves.

But the door hisses open and Jemma finds Skye standing in the doorway.

Again, she looks uncomfortable, arms crossed. She definitely looks less hostile than she did earlier that morning.

Jemma leans back against the lab bench with a playful smile on her face. _Yup, definitely have the upper hand._

“What can I do for you, Skye?” she asks with deviance in her voice. She loves it. She doesn’t even have to do anything.

Skye sighs and drops her arms in a huff. “You said that I get to choose what we do next as friends.” She spits out the last syllable with distaste. What Jemma doesn’t understand is why she blushes so hard it reaches her ears?

“And what do you want to do?” Jemma is expecting something really embarrassing because she already knows that Skye is a nerd and plays video games.

Skye bites her lips and lunges forward to grab Jemma’s cheeks. Before Jemma can even process it, all she can feel is Skye’s lips pressed against hers. She’s kissing Jemma so hard that she doesn’t even know what to do.

It’s only when she unconsciously starts kissing the younger agent back that she pulls back. She’s pinned against the table with nowhere to go.

“Wait, what’re you _doing_?” Jemma asks alarmed. She tries not to think about her heart beating at a million miles per hour. And it’s not out of fight or flight. This time she is actually flustered. “You _hate_ me!” she exclaims to further process what just happened.

_Skye was kissing me! She was KISSING ME!_

Skye smirks as she rubs the back of her neck. “So?” she asks nonchalantly. “You said, I could choose what we do. I wanna do _you_.”

Jemma just flaps her mouth open and close like a fish out of water and contemplates having Skye repeat herself because this is unreal. “You’ve been making it _hell_ for me to get to know you and you want to _do_ me?”

“Wow, I figured that kissing you was an indicator,” Skye deadpans. Her hands are suddenly on Jemma’s waist underneath her lab coat. “So do you want to do this or what?”

Jemma bites her lip unconsciously. “Wait--” She tries to stop thinking about the sudden throbbing between her thighs. “I just wanted to be your friend.”

Skye leans into Jemma’s space, breath hot against her cheeks. “Yeah, sure, call it whatever you want,” she mutters before leaning down to kiss her neck. “Do you wanna be friends?”

Jemma can’t think straight as Skye kisses her neck. She didn’t even know there was a weak spot there. She bites her lips again as Skye continues her assault. _God, it feels fucking good._ She holds Skye’s head in place and lets her keep going.

Her shirt suddenly becomes untucked and Skye’s hot hand slides up her shirt. “O-o _kay_ ,” Jemma lets out raggedly. “F- _friends_ , works.”

**Dr. Jemma Simmons - Transmission log 0911-90**

_Uhm….uh….so...we had sex. A lot. That counts as friendship, right?_

** End of Transmission **

**Author's Note:**

> part of my holiday writing dash at nocteverbascio.tumblr


End file.
